Pacific child abuse crisis demands urgent attention, experts warn

With child abuse in the Pacific continuing to grow, Save the Children (STC) continue to ignite calls for urgent action to protect children across the Pacific.

In Sāmoa, the Sāmoa Victim Support Group reports an “alarming increase” in violence, including sexual abuse.

The STC’s Regional Child Protection Situational Analysis - Pacific reveals that violence remains "common and pervasive” in Pacific homes, schools and communities.

It states that up to 81 per cent of children in the region experience violent discipline.

Speaking to William Terite on Pacific Mornings, Anna Lazar, STC Child Protection Technical Advisor for the Pacific, says violence against children is increasing.

“Violence against children is still prevalent and widespread in the Pacific, as it is in other parts of the world,” Lazar says. “More investment and attention are needed to address the issue and ensure the children are better protected.”

Watch Anna Lazar’s full interview below.

The STC report highlights that sexual abuse is often concealed due to stigma, shame, and cultural expectations to prioritise family honour over accountability.

Lazar says it is important to act now.

“We need to think about more careful and smart investments in terms of stronger enforcement of laws, more child-friendly services, training the social workforce and addressing some of those cultural barriers that we often see.

The STC report highlights that sexual abuse is often concealed due to stigma, shame, and cultural expectations to prioritise family honour over accountability. Photo/UNICEF

“We have heard from our communities that we work with, that there's a culture of silence, stigma and shame around child sexual abuse, which leads to it being underreported.

“Then it’s difficult to unpack it, address it and provide adequate support to children.”

She also warns that many services, including schools, support associations and faith-based settings, lack the proper safeguarding practices, background checks or child-friendly procedures.

Lazar says starting with clear risk assessments, having clear policies and codes of conduct is vital.

“Safe recruitment is important, doing the required police checks and reference checks of new staff and associates, having training of staff and the people that are engaged, especially directly with children and having all those standards fulfilled that would enable us to do no harm to children.”

A March 2025 UN summit in Fiji warned that violence against children in the Pacific remains “among the highest in the world”. Photo/Save the Children

The United Nations (UN) and other agencies have echoed these concerns, where a March 2025 UN summit in Fiji warned that violence against children in the Pacific remains “among the highest in the world” and is worsened by drug use, underfunded services, and religious and cultural barriers.

Jonathan Veitch, the Pacific representative for UNICEF, says the problem requires urgent regional collaboration, adding it is both the right and smart thing to do.

He says the impact of child protection on a country’s economic and social development is significant.

The STC report also notes only 0.06 per cent of national budgets in the Pacific are allocated to child protection, an amount Lazar says is nowhere near adequate to address the problem.

She says prioritising the rights and needs of children is a must.

The STC report also notes only 0.06 per cent of national budgets in the Pacific are allocated to child protection. Photo/Supplied

“A lot of our communities we spoke to have talked about the need for more sensitisation programmes, around positive parenting, child rights, and how to keep children safe,” Lazar says.

“We hear from children themselves and child protection actors say ‘let's involve children more in this decision-making that affects their lives’.

“Governance systems are sometimes lacking in providing the right voice to children as well.”